Michael Irvin's Racist Comments

One can only imagine the firestorm (and sacking) of a white commentator that said the same thing Michael Irvin did about Tony Romo’s ancestry and athleticism on Dan Patrick's ESPN radio show.

 

Amazingly, this has received NO attention - not even from the "Worldwide Leader In Sports."

 

 

"He doesn't look like he's that type of an athlete," Irvin said of Romo. "But he is. He is, man. I don't know if some brother down in that line

somewhere, I don't know who saw what or where, his great-great-great-great-grandma ran over in the 'hood or something went down."

 

"If great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn, 'Come on in here for a second,' you know, and they go out and work in the yard. You know, back in the day."

Why, oh Why

?Westbrook had 27 touches - 20 carries and 7 catches. What the hell was he doing in the game on the last possession down by 24 points? does Reid want him to get hurt? and it seemed that he was getting the ball on every play at that point.

 

Had touches on 8 of the first 12 plays.

 

 

Here's the amazing stat:

 

Westbrook had 27 touches, the rest of the team had 21 (5 rushes, 16 receptions). LJ had 4 catches, a bunch had 2 each. Bucky had 4 carries. 6 incompletes.

 

That's 80% of the runs and close to 30% of the passes (completions).

 

And yet, at 5-6 the Eagles are one game out of the wildcard.

Still Hope?

Just when I think the season is over, Sam Donnellon lays out an encouraging scenario for the Eagles (excerpt below). If Garcia is serviceable could we be looking at a Lindros-type situation here if the Eagles were to make the playoffs and, heaven forbid, make a run without their injured star and leader (and would McNabb be banging Matt McCoy's wife on the side)?

 

 

“The bottom line is that the best teams in the division have six wins, and the Eagles have five. The bottom line is that three of the four contenders have replaced their quarterbacks for one reason or another and the fourth, the Giants, are not exactly enthralled by the performance of their guy right now.

 

Who was it who said the division winner would need 11 wins?

 

Oh yeah, me.

 

Scratch that.

 

I'm figuring nine might take it, and if there's two nines, both might go to the playoffs from a division that, with apologies to that premier quarterback Tony Romo and his new main squeeze Jessica Simpson, may be the worst in the NFL.

 

Yes, the Eagles have three straight divisional road games to end the season, but look at those games now: Washington is woeful, New York's injury list is oppressive, and the Cowboys... well, if that game on Christmas even has meaning, isn't that a conquest? Indeed it may come down to a last-game, New Year's Eve showdown at home with

hothouse Atlanta, whose quarterback Michael Vick - once perceived as the next model - was described as a "coach killer" in print this week.”

 

 

FW: hindsight

Here’s another eagles question in hindsight.

 

Why did they cut McCants and keep Lewis? Aren’t they wash talent-wise at worst – and McCants has actually produced for another team at WR. Add his special teams leadership/production and how did McCants get cut and Lewis not?

 

My friend says that Lewis made a nice long TD catch in final preseason game, and wouldn’t you think that coaches don't let one random play in preseason determine their decisions - erasing memories of several yrs of soft routes and dropped passes - but thinks that one catch sealed his spot on roster. 

 

They should just cut lewis and re-sign McCants to send a message. There wouldn’t be a dropoff in play.

Done?

My feeling is that the season is over for the Eagles. Even if they could make the playoffs, they are not going to the super bowl with Garcia (not that I’m against extending the season as long possible) and another reason McNabb’s injury is so devastating. The Eagles in the playoffs with a healthy McNabb could have gone all the way given the competition and some breaks.

 

Anway, Reid’s and the front office’s answer to the question I pose has profound implications for the off-season and next year. Maybe they’ll get a good hard look at some of these guys in the last 6 games and figure out who’s a keeper and who’s gotta be replaced. But if they don’t get a freakin’ quality LB in free agency I am going to lose my mind.

McNabb's successor

Don Banks of SI suggests that Donovan’s injury makes it time for the Eagles to draft a QB and begin planning the leadership transition. Interesting.

 

I would take exception to several of Banks’ points – though. McNabb is less of a runner and thus less “reliant on his legs” than is reality. He doesn’t run nearly at all anymore (some say not enough) and only takes off if he is flushed out of the pocket. His acl injury is less serious than Culpepper’s who also tore the MCL, or Palmer’s who shredded three ligaments.

 

 I would also argue that McNabb is just a better QB than Culpepper, injuries or no injuries.

 

Interesting, also, that McNabb’s statistical decline this season coincided with Stallworth’s inactivity due to hammy problems. As I mentioned to PK the other day, watching the Cowboys and Colts, and Stallworth – a solid pro but nothing special – I’ve realized the number of clowns that McNabb has had to work with at WR – Pinkston, Thrash, Greg Lewis, Charles Johnson. Some of these guys, in their best days, would be no better than situational 3^rd-4^th WR on other teams. Yet they all started significant games for the Eagles.

 

To really help McNabb, they need to sign a professional WR free agent – no drafting one and hope he develops, this player needs to be up to speed by the start of 2007, in addition to a big RB, and an LB.

MAC Attack

Out with a bunch of guys on Friday night and we got to discussing nfl qb's and counting which college conference has produced the most current starters. Some surprising results - most notably the MAC has a disproportionate share of starters – Gradkowski, Pennington, Roethlisberger - given its modest Division I status.

 

All of which is background to perhaps explain why the Eagles just signed Bowling Green's Omar Jacobs as the team's #3 QB to fill McNabb's roster spot.

 

here's the word on Jacobs

 

Mike Quick's poor choice of words

Commenting on Andre Waters’ apparent gunshot suicide:

 

"It blows your mind that somebody could do that to themselves,'' Mike Quick said.

Mike Quick's poor choice of words

Commenting on Andre Waters’ apparent gunshot suicide:

 

"It blows your mind that somebody could do that to themselves,'' Mike Quick said.

Messed Up

The Dallas Cowboys have the best QB in the NFC East.  Didn't think at the start of the season that would be the case.

Waters' Pain

Outstanding article by Phil Sheridan on Andre Waters’ death. I also suspected that perhaps the physical pain of post-NFL life may have been too much for Waters. Here’s Sheridan’s take with great points about the side of the nfl we don’t see after the player is gone and cheering subsides.

 

“I played because I loved it," he said. "I'm not looking for sympathy, because it's what I wanted to do. I just don't think people realize the players they cheer for wind up unable to walk or sleep because of pain."

 

What bothered him was that the sacrifice of his body didn't mean anything to the NFL the moment he couldn't play anymore. Jobs in scouting and coaching went to men who spent their 20s working a different career track and networking….

 

Maybe there were other reasons. Maybe something happened recently to drive Waters to suicide. Or maybe the pain - physical and emotional - palpable in his voice just kept getting worse. Probably, we'll never know.”

Answers?

Here’s a question that’s been perplexing me.

 

What are the Eagles?

 

• A true 5-5 team in a league of parity?
• A team that is a couple of plays, one 62 yard field goal, and a torn ACL from being 7-3 or 8-2 right now and the second best team in the conference?
• A below .500 team with significant weaknesses on defense and some questionable offensive skill players whose franchise-QB has helped them overachieve and mask these shortcomings?
• A flawed team in a flawed division and flawed conference that can still compete for a playoff spot at 5-5 even with a backup QB for the remainder of the season given the competition.
• A mediocre team whose entire fortune rises and falls on a single player-- more so than most other teams – the QB?

Missed 3 Cost Competitiveness

Would have been a lot more exciting final 5 minutes yesterday if the Eagles hadn’t botched their FG. An Akers’ 3 there makes the score 24-16 and makes the game a one possession game (with a looming 2-pt. conversion.).

Just a sloppy, sloppy game.

Devastating McNabb Injury

A swirl of emotion surrounding McNabb's knee injury- hopes of the Super
Bowl are out the window-obviously. They might still be able to make the
playoffs, but so what? They're not going to get very far.

With McNabb, anything was possible with this team. Amazingly, 5-5 still
leaves the Eagles in the playoff hunt. And they brought in Jeff Garcia
specifically for this very situation... to have a veteran QB that could
step in for McNabb if the unthinkable happened.

Some of my friends have tried to point out that too bad the Eagles
didn't win the Giants and Bucs game to give themselves (ie, Garcia) a
margin for error and give them a leg up in the playoff race.

Here's another thought: how much more devastating would McNabb's loss be
(if possible) they eagles had won those games and been 7-3 right now?
They'd be the #2 seed in the NFC, looking at a bye for the playoffs.
Losing McNabb in that scenario might have been even worse.

d-line

Eagles must really be pleased with the D-line’s play to extend another player there – this time Trent Cole, 2^nd year budding sack star out of Cincinnati – for 5 years

Eagles Extend Patterson

Guess the Eagles aren’t so disappointed at the play of their d-line, particularly their tackles, not to extend the contract of Mike Patterson for years.

 

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/homeNewsDetail.jsp?id=58798

 

It didn't take long for the Eagles to realize that they want defensive tackle Mike Patterson to be a keystone of the defensive line for a long, long time.

Patterson signed a 7-year contract extension on Thursday, which will keep him in the midnight green through the 2016 season. We will have more coverage later in the day here on PhiladelphiaEagles.com.

The team's first-round draft pick in 2005, the 31st overall selection, started in seven games last season and led the defensive line with 66 tackles and all NFL rookie defensive tackles with 3.5 sacks. This season, Patterson has started in every game and has 36 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned 98 yards for a touchdown against the 49ers.